Between Feathers and a Hard Place
by EvelynThursday
Summary: The Doctor protects her friends with her wings but pays the price. Wing!fic.


_My first wing fic! Inspired by a list of prompts written by Gallifeathers on Tumblr._

* * *

"Gang, get down!" The Doctor yelled as the floor rumbled and rocks started to fall from the ceiling. "And get together!"

The three humans dropped out of their sprint to the far away tunnel at the Time Lord's shout, crashing to the floor in a tangle of limbs as they huddled together. It took a second for the Doctor to reach their side, pushing their heads down, and on hands and knees over them extended her golden yellow wings, shielding them from the falling rocks.

"Are you guys alright?" she asked, sounding as if she hadn't just been on a mad dash across a huge underground cavern in a failed attempt to reach the safety of the surface.

"We're ok, I think, Doc," replied Graham, looking towards his other two friends, panting at their run but otherwise looking unharmed.

There was a noise, like fabric flapping in the wind as one of the Doctor's wings dipped, a wince crossing her face. Ryan felt a rock brush past his leg as it rolled off the Doctor's wing and hit the floor. He tucked his legs up under the safety of his feathery roof.

"Doctor," said Yaz as a large rock splintered into pieces near their heads. "You are going to get hurt."

"I'll be fine," she replied. "I'm made of stronger stuff than you lot. Anyway there was no way we would have got across to the tunnel without someone getting hurt." She tried and failed to hide another wince as rocks hit her wings again. "I'll be fine."

That reassurance was for naught as the Doctor gave a sudden yell, biting the pained noise off into harsh breaths through her teeth. Graham flinched as something heavy impacted the wing above his head with a crack, the wing dipping dangerously close to his face. It didn't rise quickly as with previous hits, and instead trembled in the air, wingtip brushing the dirt floor.

"Doctor!" Yaz exclaimed. "How badly are you hurt. That was a bad hit."

"I'm fine" the Doctor replied, voice laced with pain. "This quake shouldn't last much longer." Graham looked at the damaged wing then the others with wide eyes as a drop of blood dripped to the floor by his head. Whatever the Doctor said, she was not 'fine'.

The rumbling and the crashing of rocks continued on for a few minutes but did eventually start to subside. The Doctor flinched with every impact to her back and wings, gasping when a stray rock hit her injured wing.

"I think it's going to be safe to move in a minute," said Yaz as the sounds of rocks smashing against the floor settled into a slow, sporadic rhythm. "What do you think, Doctor?"

"I think-" There was a hollow thud as the Doctor's sentence was broken in an outrush of breath, head suddenly dipping. She seemed to hang there for a second, head bowed and dazed, before her eyes rolled up, elbows buckling and she collapsed. She landed with her head on Yaz's shoulder, lax limbs crumpled under her body and wings lying limp over Ryan and Graham.

"Doctor?!" Cried Yaz as the Time Lord didn't move to shelter them again. Graham carefully lifted the wing over him to look at Yaz and the Doctor. He could hear Ryan blowing feathers out of his mouth on Yaz's other side. Yaz looked at him with wide eyes as her shaking of the Doctor's shoulders didn't get a response. From his angle he couldn't see the Doctor's face but knew she was unconscious.

"I think she got hit on the head. I can feel her hearts beating but I can't get her to wake up," said Yaz. Graham reached out a hand and felt the back of the Doctor's head.

"She got hit pretty badly," said Graham, revealing his fingers covered with blood. He flinched as another rock struck the wing he was under, quickly tucking his arm back under the safety of the Doctor's feathers. "Ryan, you still ok over there?" He asked as Yaz started to talk in the Doctor's ear, trying to coax her awake.

Ryan lifted his wing and peered across the Doctor's back.

"Fine, Gramps," he replied. "It's the Doctor you should be worrying about, not me."

In a few minutes the rumbling beneath them had ceased and rocks had stopped falling to the ground. But the Doctor had not woken up.

"Looks safe now," said Ryan as he wriggled out from underneath the Doctor's wing. "Jus' need to hope it stays that way." He stumbled upright, tripping over loose stones as he surveyed the damage done to the cavern around them. "Whoa," he said. "We definitely wouldn't have made it to the tunnel if we had tried to leg it." He turned back around. "You ok Yaz? And how's the Doctor."

"I'm fine," she replied. "But I can't get her to wake up. She's alive but that's all I can tell you." Yaz buried her fingers in the Doctor's hair, away from the growing patch of red amongst the blond strands. "Doctor," she whispered in her ear. "Please wake up, we need you."

"Could you give me a hand here, son?" Asked Graham, still sheltered by feathers. "I think this wing is broken and I don't want to hurt her further."

Ryan carefully made the few steps to his grandfather's side, dodging the few large rocks in the way and sliding across the smaller stones that coated the floor.

He crouched by the Doctor's wing and tucked his forearm under the break, along the bone.

"Sorry, Doctor," he murmured, mostly to himself. "This might hurt." He lifted the wing high enough for his grandfather to move, stabilising the broken bone with his own whole ones. Graham shimmied out and Ryan carefully lowered the wing to the floor. The Doctor never even twitched.

"Oh, the poor Doc," said Graham as he saw the damage caused to his friend.

Her wings were a state, feathers missing or covered in blood where the harsh rocks had hit, unbloodied feathers dishevelled and coated in a layer of fine dust. Her damaged wing lay at an awkward angle, feathers bunched up in an unnatural way where a straight bone now curved.

He crouched and smoothed down some of the ruffled feathers with a gentle hand. "It doesn't look like she's gonna be able to fly for a while."

"Ngggggh," the Doctor suddenly groaned wordlessly, burying her face in Yaz's shoulder.

"Doctor!" Cried Yaz, relieved that she was waking up.

The Doctor flinched at her voice.

"Ow." she moaned. "Too loud."

"Doctor," Yaz said again, quieter this time. "I think your wing is broken. You need to let us know what to do so we can get you back to the Tardis."

"Wah?" The Doctor raised her head and squinted at her. "Yaz. Is everything moving or is it just me?"

"It's just you, I'm afraid. You got hit in the rock fall and I think you might have concussion. You were unconscious for a good few minutes."

"Oh," she replied, lowering her head to Yaz's shoulder again. "No wonder I feel terrible."

"Doctor, we need to move." Said Graham. "Get back to the Tardis. I don't know how structurally sound this chamber is and you need to be looked at by someone more medically trained than any of us."

The Doctor suddenly raised her head again, narrowing her blurry eyes at them.

"Wait, rock fall? Are you guys alright?"

"We're all fine, Doc. You're the one we're worried about."

The Doctor sagged in relief, head dipping back towards Yaz's shoulder once more.

"Doctor, I don't suppose you could move?" Yaz asked before the Time Lord could get comfy again. "I think we really should leave here and not just because you are kinda lying on me at the moment."

The Doctor looked around, finally realising the position she was in.

"Oops. Sorry Yaz. Ooh, this is gonna hurt."

She managed to lever herself onto her hands and knees, right wing tucked up against her back whilst the broken left trailed awkwardly along the floor. Yaz shuffled out as the Doctor sat back, sucking pained breaths through her clenched teeth, eyes screwed shut and fingers clawed against the rock floor.

"What can we do to help?" Asked Yaz when the Doctor seemed to be aware of her surroundings again. The Doctor reached out and felt along the bone of her wing, flinching when her fingers touched the break.

"The bone's out of position but it's not broken the skin. Just need to splint it so I can get back to the Tardis." She looked at her three friends, assessing. "Yaz," she said after a moment's thought. "Can I borrow your scarf?"

"Sure," she replied, untangling the fabric from around her neck. "What you need it for?"

"I need to secure my wings against my back so they can't move, but pressure can't be put on the break so you'll have to be careful where you put the scarf. And I might need some help moving my wing, if I try and move it under my own power I could displace the bones more, and that would be both bad and painful."

With help from Graham and Ryan gingerly folding her injured wing to match her unhurt one and Yaz securing her scarf around both wings and chest the Doctor was soon shakily making her way onto her feet, flanked closely by Yaz and Ryan.

"Thanks gang," the Time Lord said as she started her unsteady way across the rock strewn cavern towards the tunnel to the surface, followed by her three human companions. "Once my wing's been set I'll take you to somewhere nice. You fancy somewhere hot or cold? Ooh, I know, there's a planet..."

She continued talking as they left the chamber and made their way up the sloping tunnel. Thankfully it didn't seem to be blocked as they all could feel a breeze on their faces but the ground was still littered with fallen rocks.

The Doctor was weaving drunkenly all over the place as she walked, nearly bumping into a wall then bouncing off Graham's shoulder on her other side. Graham steadied her with a hand to her arm, concerned that she was fairing worse than Ryan over the uneven terrain.

"I'm ok," she said to him with a cheeky grin not quite hiding the pain written on her face. "Just a little dizzy. And I'm over compensating for not being able to balance with my wings. It's always surprising that you don't realise just how much you rely on something until you can't use it anymore."

Graham made sure to be near her all the way to the Tardis, despite her protests. It would not be good if she hurt herself further.

* * *

The Doctor made her way straight to the console on unsteady legs when they entered the Tardis, flicking switches and pulling leavers as she piloted them away from the planet. Her movements were as sure as always but her hands shook and her usual bounciness was not present.

After the shaking under their feel settled into the calmness of flight the Doctor stayed standing by the console, hunched over the controls.

"Doc?" Graham asked. "What do we do now? Do you know some sort of space hospital or something?"

She turned towards them with a pained smile on her face.

"You lot are going to have to set my wing for me, I can't do it myself. Me and hospitals don't get on, so I can't get any help there." She looked at the horror on her friends faces. "It'll be fine. I'll talk you through it."

There was a ding from behind her as something slid down one of the chutes under the console. The Doctor went to retrieve it, stumbling and holding her head as she bent over. Ryan raced over to her side, propping her hip up against the console as she regained her balance.

She tapped Ryan's arm when the room had stopped spinning to let him know he could let go of her arm and he stepped back a few paces to give her room.

In her hand now was a small box, black, thin and rectangular, about the same size and shape as those old cigarette cases Graham had seen on Antiques Roadshow. In the box were a few rows of clear plastic squares, about the size of large postage stamps, all adorned with green crescents and writing that the humans couldn't read from where they were stood. The Doctor selected one, closing the box with one hand whilst she stuck the patch onto the side of her neck with the other.

She immediately slumped, head sinking forward and shoulders sagging. The box was abandoned on the console.

"Doc, you ok?" Asked Graham, fearful that she was about to pass out.

"Yep," she replied, smiling to him through her curtain of blond hair. "Painkiller. It's numbing most of the pain, I had forgotten just how much broken bones_ hurt_." She stood up straighter and lent back against the console but immediately jerked upright again as she put weight on her wings, still held rigidly against her back with Yaz's scarf around her chest. "Ow. Dulls most of the pain but not all. Oh, having the bone set is going to be so much fun."

She took out the sonic screwdriver from the inside pocket of her coat and fiddled with the settings. She then circled the console and flicked a few switches. The projected display lit up the wall with an orange glow, black circles rotating in the light.

"Let's get a look at my wing, shall we?" Said the Doctor. She threw the screwdriver from her right hand to her left then reached over her shoulder, lighting up the screwdriver as she scanned the break in her wing.

The projection on the wall suddenly changed, the circles disappearing to be replaced by a rotating 3D image of a straight bone, fractured and displaced in the middle.

"Woah," said Ryan, awed. "This is so much better than an x-ray."

The Doctor stepped towards the display to gain a closer look, tucking the screwdriver back in her coat pocket, and the others moved to stand behind her, careful to stay clear of her injured wing. She looked at the scan, examining it intently.

"Looks like a simple break, easy to fix." She spun round to see the others but wobbled to a stop, eyes screwing up, hand clutched to the side of her head. Graham reached out and steadied her with a hand to the shoulder as she breathed through the pain and dizziness shooting through her skull.

"Woah, Doc," he said. "Slow down a little, you're hurt."

"Don't fuss, Graham," the Time Lord replied, "a few hours nap will sort the concussion out. Setting my wing is more important - if we don't I might not be able to fly again, and I'm not having that." She lowered her hand and looked at her assembled friends. "Yaz, you've the nimblest fingers so you've got to set the break. Graham and Ryan, you're gonna hold me down."

"Why?" Asked Ryan.

"This is going to hurt. Really hurt. And I need you to make sure that I don't move."

"Ain't you got any better pain killers?"

"I do, but it's best not to use them with a concussion. As much as I'm dreading the pain that's about to happen I would like to wake up tomorrow morning." She turned back to the display and pointed to the break. "Right, this is what you need to do."

"Are you sure you want me to do this?" Asked Yaz once the Doctor had finished her instructions and nipped to the medical room for supplies. "The police only taught me how to stabilise a break then wait for the paramedics, not how to set one. I don't want to get it wrong and hurt you."

"You won't get it wrong, Yaz," the Doctor replied. "You'll be brilliant, I trust you."

"Ok," she wiped her now sweaty palms down her shirt. "Where do you want to do this?"

"Before we start," interrupted Graham, "can I look at your head? You were bleeding quite heavily after you got hit."

"You're fussing again," the Time Lord replied, reaching a hand up to the back of her head. "It wasn't bleeding that badly and -ouch- it's stopped now." She withdrew her hand, fingers stained red. She screwed up her nose and wiped her hand on her trousers. "It'll be fine."

"But Doc-"

"Wing first Graham, or would you rather try and rebreak the bone later as my healing is faster than for you humans." Graham paled and kept quiet. "Sorry, didn't mean to snap at you, but my wing is more important than my head at the moment." She took a calming breath. "Right gang, I think here should do it." The Doctor motioned to a patch of floor nearby, dropping the medical supplies and the sonic at her feet. "I'm gonna have to be on my back for this but as I can't sit down with my wings bound like this without breaking more bones I'm gonna need a hand. Graham, you unknot Yaz's scarf then grab this hand." She wiggled her left hand in his direction. "Yaz, you hold my broken wing and straighten it out slowly so I've got room to sit down. Ryan, you're gonna take my other arm and hold my weight with Graham so I don't fall over or sit faster than Yaz can move. Now, teamwork. We'll have to go slow."

They managed to get the Doctor on the floor, moving as one like an eight legged monster with four independent heads.

"Good job team," she panted at them as she lay on the floor, breathing through the pain. Her friends crouched in a half circle around her. She looked at them thoughtfully, checking they were where she wanted them: Graham crouching by her folded right wing, Yaz knelt by her head on her left opposite Ryan on the other side of her broken wing.

"Ryan, you put a hand here," she grabbed his left wrist and guided his hand to rest over the bone of her injured wing, just by her shoulder. "Then put your other hand just past the joint on the other side of Yaz. Right a bit, there. That should give Yaz enough movement to align the bone but stop me from moving too much." She turned her attention to Graham, still sat by her other hip. He looked at her with wide eyes.

"I don't want to do this, Doc. Don't want to see you in pain." She rested a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry Graham, but you have to. There is no one else here to help and I wouldn't trust anyone other than the three of you to look after me."

"What do I have to do?" He sighed.

"Just put your weight on my shoulders and a knee on my other wing if you can manage it. Don't look at me like that, you are not going to hurt me. I'm more likely to hurt you or myself if you don't hold me down."

Graham moved to do what he was told, leaning over the Doctor with a hand pressing down on each shoulder. He tried to pin her wing with his knee but only managed to press on feathers.

"Sorry, Doc, not flexible enough."

"That's ok," she replied. "Just keep my right shoulder pinned and that should stop that wing moving too much. I shouldn't be able to hit you from this angle."

She blindly reached for the sonic from where it had been abandoned by Ryan's knee. Lifting it in to view she adjusted the settings and turned it on, handing it to Yaz. "Put that on the floor and point it towards the break." The projected display changed from the rotating scan of the break to a static image as Yaz put it down. "Live view," said the Doctor. "Should help you know where to move the bones. And whatever happens don't stop until the bones are aligned - I don't want to be stuck on two legs for the rest of this regeneration." She paused for a moment, running everything through her mind to ensure she hadn't forgotten anything. Nothing, time for action. "Everyone ready?" She gave the three of them a shaky smile as they all nodded. "Come on gang. Let's do this."

As soon as Yaz put pressure on the bone the Doctor reacted, biting off a yell, but Yaz kept going, keeping the Doctor's words running through her head. She could not stop, no matter how much it hurt to hear the Doctor in pain.

Ryan and Graham fought to keep the Doctor still as her back arched and her feet skidded over the floor. Her hands grasped on the first things they found - the side of Ryan's shirt and the leg of Graham's trousers. Leaning over the Doctor Graham could see that her skin had turned pale and sweaty and her knuckles had turned white around the fabric she was gripping. Her unbroken wing was spasming, unable to extend under the pressure of the shoulder Graham was pressing over it.

Yaz's face was a picture of concentration as she tried to align the bones whilst blocking out the agonised groans and gasps that the Doctor was making. Her eyes kept flicking between the bones under her hands and the projection on the wall.

Finally the bones aligned. The Doctor's reaction was instant, relaxing under Ryan and Graham's hands. She was still as taut as a bow string but now she was no longer struggling out of their grasp. Her laboured breathing filled the now quiet space. Yaz took a second to take a few deep breaths to steady her nerves, keeping her hands over the break to keep it still.

"Doctor, you ok?" She asked.

"Yeah, I forgot just how much that hurts," replied the Doctor, voice weary and ragged. "Now splint it just how I told you. You're doing a good job. You are all doing a good job."

"Ryan," said Yaz as she reached for the medical supplies with one hand. "I'm going to need some help. I think you can let go of her wing now."

Ryan carefully lifted his hands from the wing, watching for any movement he needed to be stilling. When the wing didn't even twitch he looked to Yaz.

"What do you need me to do?"

Between the two of them they managed to lift the wing whilst keeping the break stable. Some plastic splints and a bandage threaded through her feathers made up the first layer which was then coated with a thick white gel that hardened in a few minutes, just like a human plaster cast. The Doctor had explained that unlike the human cast this coating would be waterproof and light enough to support her broken wing without weighing it down. The splints and bandage was there to support the break whilst the gel set and to prevent the gel soaking into and hardening on her feathers.

The Doctor didn't make a sound as the pair worked, other than sucking air between her clenched teeth every time her wing was accidently jostled. Graham could feel her twitch through his hands that he had kept on her shoulders, though he was no longer forcing her down.

"Finished," said Yaz, laying the wing back down. "I hope the cast isn't too tight."

The Doctor let out a long breath, relaxing from her high strung tension. She let her arms drop to the floor once she had unclenched her aching fingers from the clothes of her companions.

"Well done, Doc," said Graham as he sat back on his heels. "We'll let you rest there for a bit. Just shout if you want any help." She nodded exhaustedly back at him, panting heavily. "And well done Yaz. You too Ryan."

"Thanks Graham," said Yaz as she shakily lowered herself off her knees to sit on the floor, legs crossed and eyes down, picking at the dried white gel on her trembling fingers. Ryan mirrored her a few feet away.

They all spent a few moments in silence, relieved that the dreadful ordeal was over.

As she got her breath back and began to be aware of other things than pain the Doctor realised that she could feel the Tardis rumbling soothingly beneath her back. She patted the floor with an aching hand, letting her dear sentient time ship know that she was alright.

Graham was the first to move, groaning as he climbed to his feet.

"Oh, my knees aren't made to be kneeling on hard floors anymore." He staggered a few paces as he got his protesting joints moving again.

"Graham," said the Doctor, voice rough, "could you get a bowl of water and a cloth whilst the others help me up - I need to clean out my cuts and I'm not going to be able to get to some of them."

As he left the room the other two scrambled back onto their knees, grabbing the Doctor's arms when she raised them and carefully levered her up. She gingerly moved her broken wing, wincing at the pain, but smiled at them.

"You two have done a good job, my wing is feeling loads better than earlier."

"Need help standing up?" Asked Yaz.

"Yeah, thanks. Should be trying to avoid my wings but it's kinda difficult when you use them for balance."

They quickly got the Doctor back onto her feet, abandoned sonic screwdriver returned to its usual pocket as she crossed the room to the console to turn off the scanner display.

The floor where she had lain was a mess, spattered with drips of blood from the Doctor's head and the various scrapes she had gained, and a few bloodied feathers. The roll of bandaging was left partially unrolled and the extra splints were scattered amongst puddles of dried cast gel.

Graham returned and handed the bowl he was carrying to the Doctor, asking her to hold it whilst he cleaned the wounds she thought she would not be able to reach on her own.

Yaz watched as Graham quietly talked to the Doctor as he worked, unable to hear what they were saying from the other side of the console room, recentering herself after that dreadful ordeal. She shook herself mentally and started to work on the mess they had left on the floor.

Ryan knelt to help Yaz clear up the floor, picking up the splints as she rolled up the bandaging. She held out a hand to him when she was done. He handed her the splints.

"I'll put these back in the medical room whilst you finish picking up everything else. I'll be back with a cloth for the floor."

"Yaz," the Doctor called out to her before she passed through the doorway to the rest of the Tardis. "Grab a tube of antiseptic cream whilst you're there. Should be easy to find." There was a ding from the console. "Never mind, thanks Yaz. Graham, grab that, will ya."

Ryan surreptitiously tucked a feather in his pocket when nobody was looking as he collected the rest for disposal. Graham still had his attention on the Doctor as he rubbed antiseptic cream into her wounds that she couldn't reach whilst she fussed over bloodied and dusty feathers. The feather he kept was a little bloody but he hoped that it would wash out. He had admired the Doctor's wings since she crashed through the roof of that train but never had the courage to ask her for a feather as a memento from the mad, impossible woman he had found himself travelling with. It was just as weird as asking for a lock of her hair. People just didn't do that nowadays.

"Right gang," said the Doctor as she walked towards the corridor leading to the depths of the Tardis, the usual spring in her step muted as she tried to not jostle her injured wing. "I'm off to get cleaned up, I trust none of you are hurt or need my attention for the next little while."

"I think we're all fine," said Yaz, re-entering the console room, damp cloth and bin bag in hand. Graham nodded in agreement as she swapped her cloth for Ryan's handful of feathers.

"Go take a shower or something, Doc. And a rest if you need it. You don't need to babysit us all the time. We won't touch anything we shouldn't, honest."

"Ok," the Doctor replied. "I'll see you lot later." She paused at the doorway and turned back to the three humans.

"If you wanted one Ryan," she said, surprising the others, "you just had to ask. I shed them all the time. Just don't let anyone else get their hands on it." And with a smile she swept down the corridor leaving a sheepish Ryan standing with one hand in his pocket, the other dangling the damp cloth.


End file.
